Back to the Present
by oahfoah
Summary: Set during Christmas 2009. Artie gets an unusual present and is sent to the future...
1. Chapter 1

I do NOT own Warehouse 13!

Author's Note: I started this a few months ago and just got around to finishing it so that's why it is set when it is set.

* * *

"One thing I miss about living in a city apartment," Pete paused as he lifted his shovel, "not having to shovel snow." He then heaved the packed white mass off to the side of the driveway.

"Aw is the big burly field agent man getting tired?" Claudia teased as she copied Pete and shifted more snow.

"No, no," Pete defended, "I'm not tired, just, you know, wondering why we are doing this anyway. I mean, there's gotta be an artifact in the warehouse that can, I dunno, evaporate snow?"

"Oh! Like a fire extinguisher that creates fire instead of putting it out!" Claudia suggested a little too energetically.

"Well even if there was, you actually think Artie would let us use it?" Myka asked sarcastically.

Pete heaved another snow filled shovel over his shoulder before stating the obvious, "No."

"Haha, what are you guys even complaining about?" Claudia stopped mid-shovel and looked at the two older people. "You two are the agents. You are supposed to be outside, working, fixing things. I'm just the tech support. I'm supposed to be _inside_, fixing things, no actual hard manual labor required."

Myka smiled at Claudia. "You think maybe this is Artie's way of getting you out of the warehouse?"

"Dude, if he wants me out of the warehouse, he should just send me on missions with you two. But this," Claudia pushed more snow, "this is like, a punishment. And I haven't done anything recently so…" Claudia raised her hands in a confused look.

Pete and Myka looked at each other and shared a small smile, both remembering Claudia's previous mishaps with artifacts and Artie's tedious punishments for her.

"Aw is a certain puny red headed girl getting tired?" Pete teased as Myka rolled her eyes.

"I may be tired of shoveling snow but…" before Pete could turn to see why Claudia stopped talking, his face got intimate with a snowball.

"O no you didn't." Pete dropped his shovel and bent down to start packing snow for his own weapon. Claudia's smile only got wider as she copied Pete. Within seconds the two had forgotten about their chore and were engaged in a full on war, which left Myka standing between the two, eyes rolling like there was no tomorrow. It wasn't until a stray snowball (that Myka was positive wasn't stray) hit her that she reached for Pete's arm, holding it in a vice, and ended the battle. The two reluctantly but with smiles still on their faces picked up their disposed shovels and finished what they started.

After another fifteen minutes, the driveway to the Bed & Breakfast was clear and the three were making their way inside to warm up. After ridding themselves of their wet coats and shoes, the three walked toward the sitting room.

"Man, I'm going to be sore tomorrow," Claudia mumbled as she moved her way to slouch down on the middle of the couch. Pete followed and sat on her right.

"I'm going to make us some hot chocolate," Myka called from behind the two, moving toward the kitchen.

It had been a few months since the whole debacle with MacPherson and Leena but the B&B still felt off. They spent two months trying to find MacPherson or to at least figure out his plan but with not so much as a whisper of a clue. Mrs. Frederick had decided it was time to return to their somewhat normal routines. Or as normal as possible.

Artie survived his stint with the exploding umbilicus thanks to the phoenix, and Claudia was eventually found three weeks later, that girl really knew how to stay off the grid when she wanted to. Leena was discovered to be the mole a week after the search for MacPherson began, when the security tapes revealed 'Claudia' was wearing Harriet Tubman's thimble. But somehow she found out she was compromised and left before anyone could get back to the B&B to question her.

Since Leena left, the Bed and Breakfast has been quieter, with the feeling of betrayal and hurt hanging high in the air, especially now. It was Christmas Eve and the homey B&B was decorated with lights, wreaths, and other red and green ornaments by the new innkeeper, Jacob. All three of them sized him up as soon as Mrs. Frederick dropped him on the doorstep. He was tall, dark and handsome. Standing about six feet, he was tan, with brown hair and blue eyes. He looked early to mid-twenties but as Pete commented under his breath, "he could be older, I mean look at Mrs. Frederick, she's been the same age for at least 40 years." He was also fairly quiet, only giving his opinion when asked too, much unlike Leena.

Pete welcomed him like he was an old fraternity brother; Myka figured it was probably because he was glad to have more testosterone in the house. And she, herself, was slightly wary of the new guy, suspicious, in which Pete assured Jacob she would warm up to him in some time... probably. When Claudia had returned, Jacob had been the new inn keeper for roughly two weeks. At first glance, she was attracted to him, but she kept her distance. It already takes her a while to trust people and the situation with Leena only made things worse. And Artie, well Artie treated him like any other new agent, without emotion.

When Myka entered the kitchen, she was met with the sight of Jacob pouring five cups of hot chocolate. "Hi, Myka." He greeted, not looking up.

"O, hi Jacob." Myka paused in the doorway, his sixth sense sometimes creeped her out. "Um, there are only four of us," pointing to the five cups full of warmth.

Jacob looked up at Myka and smirked. Much like Leena could read auras, Jacob knew exactly when someone was going to enter the B&B.

"Artie called while you all were outside. He's on his way over," he explained, but Myka wasn't sure if she believed him or not. He picked up the tray of mugs and walked out to the sitting room, with Myka on his heels.

Pete and Claudia grabbed for their mugs before Jacob was able to set down the tray on the coffee table. "Thanks dude," Pete and Claudia said almost in unison.

"No problem," Jacob answered before grabbing his own mug and sitting on the big comfy chair opposite the two. Myka then followed suit and then sat to Claudia's left.

Pointing to the last full mug, still on the table, Pete asked to no one in particular, "I guess Artie is coming?"

"Duh, that mug isn't yours big boy," said Claudia, nudging his side with her elbow.

Before Pete could reply, the sound of the front door opening was heard, and seconds later Artie appeared carrying his usual large, black bag. Jacob set down his mug and stood up while the other three merely moved their heads to greet Artie.

"I hope you have presents in that bag of yours or you are going to have a sorely upset genius on your hands and you know what happens when I'm not happy," Claudia smirked at the last part of her sentence, silently remembering hacking into the warehouse and kidnapping Artie.

Artie looked dumbfounded at Claudia's comment, "what?"

"Artie, Christmas," Myka reminded.

"Yea, you know, the time for cheer, snow, ham and _presents_," Pete added.

"Yes, I know what Christmas is, thank you very much," Artie glared at Pete before continuing, "we've got bigger problems." He moved to the second big comfy chair and sat down.

"An artifact?" Myka asked, propping herself higher on the couch, intrigued. Artie nodded his head.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. It's Christmas." Pete was sitting up straighter now too, but for different reasons. "Can't this wait?"

"Yes," Artie answered Myka, then turned to Pete, "and no." He took a sip of the hot chocolate and then continued, "But you will be delighted to know, I know exactly what it is."

"Sweet!" Claudia cheered.

"What is it?" asked Myka.

Artie took another sip out of the mug. "Um, well, a Santa's hat."

After a pause, possibly to make sure they heard him right; Claudia was the first to come to words. "Wait, like, a Santa's hat?" Artie nodded but Claudia continued anyway, "like a red hat with a white ball of fluff on top that you can buy anywhere? Seriously?"

"Yes."

Pete let out an exasperated sigh and repeated, "It's Christmas."

Claudia turned to him and opened her mouth to retort that everyone else got that point the first time he said it, but a sudden realization hit her and she whispered, "It's Christmas." _Everyone_ was going to have a Santa's hat on.

After another pause, Myka asked Artie, "So how are we supposed to find the right hat?"

"Well, find the person trying to ruin Christmas," Artie said as if it was obvious.

"Wait, wait," Claudia was almost laughing. Myka thought she was loving this idea a little too much, "so this is like the Grinch's hat?" Artie nodded again and Claudia couldn't help herself and let out a little chuckle, "no freaking way."

"Yes. It only activates on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so I wasn't able to find out where it was until a few minutes ago. You two," he looked from Myka to Pete, "have a plane to catch. It leaves in two hours; you are going to Akron, Ohio." He stood again and handed them envelopes from his bag with the proper information they will need. He then looked at Claudia and told her to come with him to the warehouse.

Claudia immediately set her now empty mug on the table, thanked Jacob for making it, said bye to the others and followed Artie out the door.

Jacob collected the rest of the mugs and went into the kitchen. Myka stood up and said to her still slouching partner, "You better get up and get packed soon. You know traffic is going to be bad." Then she turned to walk up the stairs to her room and quickly packed.

Alone in the sitting room, Pete let out another deep sigh and whined, "but it's Christmas," one more time before slowly making his way to his room.


	2. Chapter 2

I do Not own Warehouse 13.

~Chapter 2~

* * *

"So who are you secret Santa for?" Claudia asked, sitting in the passenger's seat of Artie's red, mid-life crisis car.

"What? O, um, Myka."

"So what'd you get her?"

"A book."

"Okay," Claudia smiled at his lack of enthusiasm, "care to elaborate?"

"Uh, just a book I had in my library. It's called Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand."

"Huh."

"'Huh'? What does that mean? 'Huh'?"

"What? O nothing."

"No, that wasn't a nothing 'huh.' That was a something 'huh.' You don't think she'll like it?"

"O no, I think she'll love it… it's just, well, I didn't peg you as the Ayn Rand type. I was thinking more Sir Arthur Conan Doyle," Claudia paused while they got out of the car as they reached the warehouse, "you know, Sherlock Holmes? And steampunkish or mystery genre?"

Artie opened the outer door of the warehouse and entered the newly redone umbilicus that he was still a bit nervous about, considering he recently was blown up by it.

Artie glared at the girl before stopping to scan his eye, "Yes, I know who Sherlock Holmes is _and_ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for that matter. In fact, I think Doyle's pipe is in the warehouse." The inner door unlocked and as he opened it he continued, "And besides, just because my life revolves around old-fangled technology and mysteries doesn't mean I spend my free time reading about it."

He walked over to his desk and set his bag on top of it. Claudia followed a few paces back, "ok, ok, fine. I just assumed-"

"Yea, you know what you do when you assume? You make an ass out of you and me."

Claudia raised an eyebrow but resisted commenting on that little note. She merely turned around and walked over to her desk. She sat down and started clicking away on the keyboard, not really searching for anything, given that Pete and Myka already knew what they were looking for.

Artie also sat down on his out of place, sleek, plastic chair and turned toward his computer. Sitting on his keyboard was a small box, about the size a watch would come in. It was neatly wrapped in red Christmas paper with white ribbon tied around it. There was no note or card. He picked it up, it was rather light, and turned to Claudia, "Secret Santa?"

She turned around and shrugged. "Don't look at me. I got Pete."

Artie took one more glance at the gift and then placed it in his oversized bag.

"Why don't you open it?" Claudia asked, noticing his lack of Christmas spirit.

He turned back to his computer. "More important things."

Claudia stared at her mentor's back, wondering if the 'more important thing' was the Santa hat that had Pete and Myka currently flying into another state or something much worse, James MacPherson.

After a few hours of random searching by Claudia, some secret effort in tracking MacPherson, and, besides the clicking of keys, otherwise silent work, she turned to Artie and asked what was always on the back of her mind.

"Artie, do you think I'll be in charge of the warehouse in the future? I mean, like, I'm sure Mrs. Frederick will still be glaring at everything I do, but when you retire, _if_ you retire, and Pete and Myka finally get together and leave the warehouse to have a family, do you think I would stay and be, well, you?" It was a somewhat silly question that she never really planned on asking anyone but she figured it might stimulate, or shock, a response out of a recently mute Artie.

"Sure."

"Um, okay." Claudia turned back to her computer. That was not what she was expecting. There was no emotion in his response. He didn't chuckle at the ridiculous question nor glare at her for the same reason. In fact, Claudia wasn't even sure he heard the question. So she tried again. This time she pushed herself off of the desk, moving her wheeled chair toward the older man.

She stopped herself when she reached his side of the office, "Hey, geezer, I'm serious. Do you think I'll be here forever?" Claudia was sitting next to Artie, staring at him. Yet he barely glanced her way, keeping his focus on the screen in front of him.

"I dunno Claudia. Maybe. I'm busy. Aren't you supposed to be helping Pete and Myka?"

"Uh, right, they already know what to look for and they haven't called asking for help in the past two hours. Not much I can do." Artie still didn't look at Claudia when she spoke. So she moved closer to him to get a better look at his screen. "Now, what are you doing, old man? Some last minute Christmas shopping?"

On his screen was the all too familiar security feed of the bronze section from the day MacPherson escaped. Claudia watched once again as Leena, in disguise, fiddled with the controls and moments later James MacPherson stepped free from his bonds. Claudia watched herself turn to the camera and wave sheepishly before she looked at her mentor. His eyes were narrowed, concentrating on every move, as if this time all the answers and reasons would pop out from behind the crates and reveal themselves. Claudia moved back to her desk without a word and joined the search, it was the least she could do. No matter what Mrs. Frederick said or did, Artie was still obsessed with finding his former partner.

After a few more hours of unsuccessful searching, Claudia noticed it was after midnight. "Merry Christmas geezer." She smiled hoping to lighten up the somber mood.

Artie tore his eyes from the computer long enough to glance at his watch. "What? O, uh, Merry Christmas Claudia," he said absent mindedly.

Claudia continued to look at the back of her mentor. Artie sighed and rubbed his eyes, "You know what? Let's just- let's call it a night."

Claudia's brow furrowed, "really?"

With one look back at his computer screen he stood up, "yea." He picked up his black bag and ushered the teenager out of the office, "Well, you know, it _is_ Christmas."

Claudia smiled. "Now you are speaking my language."

***

Artie had gotten in touch with Pete and Myka via the Farnsworth when he arrived at the Bed and Breakfast. They snagged and bagged the hat, and were on the next flight home. Unfortunately, the next flight wasn't until early next morning. He and Claudia headed up to their beds after grabbing a midnight snack.

"See ya in the morning, geezer." Claudia said to Artie through her yawn.

Artie paused in the threshold of his doorway and turned to the teenager. She also paused in front of her door, waiting for him to reply. He chuckled and just said "Night, Claudia," before entering his room and closing the door.

He set his bag on the end table and went to his bathroom to get ready to sleep. When he came out he noticed his bag had toppled off table and fell open sometime during his preparation. He went to set it right and noticed the small red present had fallen out. Artie sighed as he picked it up and sat on the end of his bed. He hesitated, wondering who his secret Santa was, and then began to tear off the wrapping.

Artie now held a small wooden box with hand-carved designs on it. Inside was a small blue, metal, butterfly. Artie scoffed at the small piece, and thought to himself, _is must be Pete_. He would think it was funny, especially since Artie hadn't asked for anything and he was sure Pete had no clue what to get him. He picked up the butterfly between his thumb and forefinger and set down the box. For some reason, while he fiddled with his present, his mind went to the rest of the team and Claudia's predictions. Pete and Myka were probably fast asleep in a hotel room back in Akron. He thought for a second what would come of their partnership, and decided to make sure that thought stayed for only a second before he thought of his own future. Would his obsession with finding James lead to his death? Or will he remain at the warehouse until it consumes him? A few minutes and many ever increasing depressing thoughts later, Artie laid back onto his pillow. After another second, he thought about Claudia. What she would look like in twenty or thirty years, if she would be the next him or if she would find a nice boy and leave all of this behind. Artie set the butterfly on his night stand, followed by his glasses and turned over, falling instantly asleep.

***

Artie awoke with a start. He looked at his bedside clock; it read 11:03am. Artie jumped out of bed and got dressed, trying to remember the last time he slept so late. He threw on his favorite brown jacket, picked up his bag and with a last minute thought to tease Pete about the present, he dropped the butterfly into his pocket and walked out the door.

"Freeze! Don't move!"


	3. Chapter 3

And so it starts to get dark....

* * *

~~~~Chapter 3~~~~

Artie stopped abruptly, realizing he was looking down a barrel of a gun. No, not a gun, a Tesla. The man holding it was tall with brown hair and blue eyes and reminded Artie a little bit of Pete.

"Who are you?" The man asked in a forceful tone.

"What? Who- what's going on?" Artie was racking his brain, searching his memory for this man's face, wondering if he worked for MacPherson. "What-"

"Identify yourself! How did you get in here?"

In the confusion, Artie had overlooked the obvious fact that he was not in the B&B anymore. No, he was standing on a familiar concrete floor surrounded by massive shelves full of miscellaneous objects. He was in the warehouse. But how? Had he had an 'old timer' memory lapse and just forgot his trip over to the warehouse? _No, of course not, stupid question_.

"Hey Warren!" Artie's thoughts were interrupted by another man running up behind the first man, "what's all the fuss abo-" he cut off and pulled his gun, also a Tesla, when he saw Artie.

At this new revelation, Artie now raised his free hand in surrender. "Look, my name is Artie, I work here."

The two men shared a brief glance at the mention of his name and then the one named Warren started toward Artie, grabbing his raised arm, pulling it behind Artie's back. "Alright, 'Artie,' let's go see the boss." He grabbed Artie's bag out of his hands and threw it toward his partner. He then handcuffed Artie's hands together behind his back and pushed him in the direction of the office.

***

"Hey! Ms. D!" yelled Trent, Artie had learned his name on the way to the office, "we got the intruder."

Trent led Artie and Warren into his office. It looked generally the same yet it had definitely been changed from the way he and Claudia had left it the night before. The furniture and computers were pretty much the same, except for more comfortable looking chairs and there was certainly less books and papers strewn about the floor.

When there was no answer, Warren sat Artie down on one of the upgraded chairs and stood over him, still pointing the Tesla his way while Trent looked in the adjacent rooms for their boss.

Artie could hear Trent in the other room, "Ms. D, we got him."

"Good. Did you figure out how he got in yet?" questioned a familiar voice.

"No, not yet." Artie heard footsteps and then Trent walked back toward Artie, followed by another person Artie figured had to be 'Ms. D.'

Artie's eyes widened in surprise, then furrowing his brow, he asked, "Claudia?"

The woman looked just as Claudia did yesterday except older, and with her hair now shoulder length and back to her natural brown. She was just as skinny and pale but she had a sense of authority about her. Her face was hardened, with a few scars reminiscent on her cheeks. Her eyes filled with determination.

She paused at the doorway.

"Claudia? What is going on?" Artie's voice was stronger now, in his usual no nonsense tone.

Claudia reacted so fast, Artie barely had time to register what was happening. In a matter of seconds she had reached over to a nearby desk and opened the top drawer and pulled out a pistol that's barrel was now pushed against Artie's forehead. With a venomous tone, she questioned, "Who the hell are you?"

Artie stared at the anger and confusion in Claudia's eyes, barely noticing Warren and Trent's puzzled looks; neither knowing what was happening or what to do.

When Artie didn't answer, Claudia pushed the barrel harder into Artie's skull, finger threateningly close to the trigger, "I won't ask again."

"Claudia. Claudia. It's me, Artie! Artie Neilson!" Artie pleaded.

"Artie Neilson is dead. How did you get into the warehouse!?"

Artie was at a loss for words, he didn't know what to do since he obviously wasn't dead. But he decided to answer her question as best he could. "I don't know! I went to sleep at Leena's and--"

He cut off when the other two men took a step away from Artie, each drawing their weapons to copy Claudia. Warren whispered to Trent, "Leena's? What the hell?"

Artie soon realized he was missing something and everything he said was just making his situation worse so decided to plead to Claudia once more to lower her gun. "Claudia, please."

She didn't move her gun an inch. "Are you working for MacPherson?"

"What? How could you even," Artie cut off, realizing now wasn't a good time to attack her thought process. She pushed the gun against his head ever so slightly, "No. No, I am not. Claudia," he made sure to look directly in her eyes to emphasize his point, "No."

Artie didn't understand what was going on. Who were these two men? Why had Claudia changed her hair and when and why did she get so hostile all of the sudden? He had never been so determined to find out.

After what felt like minutes to Artie, but was really about ten seconds, Claudia lowered the gun but kept her gaze on the man. "Take him to the blue room," she ordered the others then left into the warehouse.

Trent and Warren hauled Artie out of his seat, and moved him toward another door out of the office.

Trent was the first to speak, "Dude, I haven't seen Ms. D that upset since --"

"Trent!" Warren glared at his partner.

"What? I'm just saying," he turned to Artie, "you must have done something really bad. I hope she lets us stay and watch." He grinned a little too widely for Artie's liking.

"Watch what? What is the blue room?" Artie asked when they stopped in front of a door. He was positive there was no such thing in the warehouse when he left.

Warren answered, "Don't worry, it's just a holding cell." He pushed Artie a little forcibly into the room when the door opened.

"Yea, but sometimes Ms. D likes to have some fun," Trent added right before the door closed and locked automatically.

Artie didn't like Claudia's idea of fun when she was a red head and he was almost one hundred percent sure he wouldn't like her idea of fun as a brunette, especially after that little incident with the gun. Artie absentmindedly wondered if he had a mark on his forehead. He took in his surroundings and immediately understood why it was called the 'blue room.' Everywhere he looked, he saw blue; blue walls, blue ceiling and blue floor. The room was claustrophobically small, almost like an old fashioned interrogation room but without the two way mirror. Although Artie was sure Claudia had some way of monitoring what he was doing, probably using some super high tech resource.

After glancing around the room, he sat down and maneuvered his still cuffed hands under his backside and legs so they were now resting somewhat comfortably on his lap. He noticed a bulge where the cuffs connected to each other and recognized the craftsmanship of Claudia's electric cuffs. He smiled to himself despite the situation. He settled himself against the wall opposite the door, knees up in the air and waited about an hour before it opened again.

Warren walked into the room carrying a tray with a glass of water and two blue pills. "Take these," he said simply setting the tray down a few feet in front of him.

Artie stared at the man when he spoke. "And what if I don't?"

Warren stood up and sighed, "Then you don't leave." He turned and the door closed seconds later.

Artie stared at the pills in front of him. Normally he wouldn't dare touch the mystery pills but seeing as he was in the warehouse and Claudia was there, or someone that looked and sounded like Claudia was there, and he saw no other way out of the current situation, he swallowed the pills in one gulp. Within seconds all of his fears and concerns melted away and he felt completely relaxed. He barely looked up when the door opened once again and Claudia walked in.

She stayed across the room from him, watching him, arms crossed. It was another minute before she talked, "Your name is Artie Neilson?"

"Yes," Artie nodded to reinforce his answer.

Claudia looked like she didn't believe him but moved on to another question, "Do you work for MacPherson or Leena?"

"No," Artie said as clear as he could in his relaxed state.

Claudia stood where she was, eyes narrowed, studying the older man's face, searching for any hint of a lie.

"How did you get into the warehouse?"

"I don't know. I feel asleep in my room at Le— at the B&B last night and then I woke up late this morning and when I left my room I was here." Artie started to feel slightly concerned at how ridiculous that sounded.

Claudia stayed silent, as if considering the same thing. Artie was growing less relaxed by the second and her silence was only making things worse. "Claudia, what is going on?"

"You tell me, professor." Claudia sounded as if she hadn't uttered the last word in years, "last time I checked, Artie Neilson died over twenty years ago."

"What?!" Whatever was in those truth/relaxation pills suddenly stopped working. He was anything but relaxed, "Twenty years?"

The two stared at each other, each trying to decipher if the other was lying.

"What- what year is it?" Artie finally uttered.

"2031."


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter is kinda short so I will be uploading the next one in the next day or two. Until then, enjoy.

* * *

~~~~ Chapter 4 ~~~~

"No, no, no," Artie started to laugh but his smile faded at the sight of Claudia's serious face, "it's _2009_."

Claudia shook her head ever so slightly, not keeping her gaze off of her former mentor.

"What- but how? There's no way," Artie finally broke his gaze and looked to the ground, thinking hard and started rambling mostly to himself, "not even with an artifact. Err- I've never heard of an artifact that could- well I probably wouldn't hear of such a thing anyway – but something that can send you to the future? C'mon, I mean--"

"Artie!" Claudia unfolded her arms and took a step toward him. Her expression had changed during his ramblings. It was more familiar to him now; it was the look she had after they would collectively figure out what the big bad artifact of the week was just in time to save the day. A mixture of surprise, happiness and relief. "It really is you?"

Artie looked up at the girl who, for that split second, let her old teenage personality through, and nodded. He stood up, keeping his gaze at the girl, "Yes. Claudia, I don't know how but it really is me." When she didn't move, he continued, "You have to trust me."

She nodded and started toward him but stopped a foot short as if second guessing her feelings. "How- how can I know for sure it's really you, Artie?" Her eyes were starting to water, she'd already lost him twenty years ago, she didn't want to get her hopes up again for a fraud.

As if her inner thoughts were said aloud, Artie nodded in comprehension. "Um, well, you kidnapped me when you were nineteen because you thought I was responsible for Joshua's disappearance." It was the first thing that popped into his head.

"Artie, everyone knows about that." Claudia said, eyes narrowing, her suspicion increasing.

"Uh, right, um," Artie racked his brains for specifics, "when we were in the inter-dimensional field with Joshua you figured out the combination to open the compass was Thomas. And um, you figured out that electricity stopped the Spine of Seracin and saved Pete, and you built a laser pointer thing that we used to hear Myka when she was trapped in Louis Carrol's Mirror. You renamed the neutralizing processing center the 'gooery,' um, you –"

Artie cut off when Claudia jumped at Artie, wrapping him in a tight hug that lasted for a good minute. Artie would have liked to think it was all because she missed him but halfway into it he heard a small sniffle and realized she was trying to hold back tears. When she finally let go, she quickly uncuffed his wrists and then he wrapped his arms around her. She tensed at first, thinking he was going to try something but soon relaxed realizing he just wanted to return the hug, and to her surprise, she let the tears fall.

"I missed you Artie," Claudia whispered into Artie's shoulder and he squeezed her slightly to let her know, he is here now.

***

Artie sat in one of the comfy chairs that replaced the hard, plastic chairs from his time as he watched Claudia order the two other men to do inventory. After putting down their protests, she then turned back to her computer at her desk, the same one and in the same location as the one from twenty years ago, and began typing just as fast as he remembered.

"Shut up." Claudia didn't even look up from her screen.

"I didn't say anything."

"No, but I can feel you smirking at the familiarity of the situation." She looked up with a small smile of her own creeping onto her face. Artie attempted to straighten his face to feign innocence and raised his hands in surrender. His efforts were easily put to waste as Claudia started laughing, which he then copied.

She stood and walked over to where Artie sat, "Yes, I didn't think it possible either old man, but, I'm you. And they," she waved a hand to the door the two whining men had exited, "are me. Except change the sex."

"Ah, you better watch the 'old man' jokes. We aren't that much different in age anymore." He raised an eyebrow.

Claudia folded her arms, "hey, I'm only thir— crap… you're right."

"Usually am."

"Huh, well, we may be closer but you are still like great-grandpa age, and I'm barely mom age," Claudia teased, "and besides your reflexes are starting to fail you, geezer, I mean, you went and messed with some artifact that brought you here." She opened her arms to indicate the here and now.

Artie looked around, then asked the question that was burning a hole in his head, "Claudia, what happened?"

Claudia's smile faded and she sighed, "I was waiting for you to ask." She walked back over to her desk and sat down on her chair. "You missed a lot Artie. What was the last thing you remember?"

"Um, it was Christmas Eve, 2009. Pete and Myka were in Akron, Ohio looking for the Grinch's Santa's hat. Nothing special happened, it was after midnight so we went back to Leena's and went to sleep. When I woke up I –"

"--Was here," Claudia concluded in unison with Artie. Claudia looked to the ceiling of the office for a few seconds as if trying to decide where to start, before returning her gaze to Artie. "I remember that day like it was yesterday."

Artie's brow furrowed in confusion, it had been twenty years, and even with Claudia's amazing memory he hadn't actually thought she would remember such a random day. Unless – "what happened Claudia?"

"Should I be even be telling you this? Doesn't the whole 'the more you know, the more the future changes' concept apply somewhere in here?"

"Claudia." Artie stared at the not so quite young girl, "you don't want me going into all the physics behind time travel. And everything is already changing as we speak. Besides, think about everything that happened in the last twenty years. Is this really what you want?"

Claudia considered his question for a second. But then commented in a sly voice, "well I guess I could always use the memory wipe on you if necessary." She smirked.

Artie couldn't tell if she was kidding or not but he decided to overlook her mischievous grin and leaned forward in his chair. "Just tell me what happened."

"Alright, but if the universe explodes, it's your fault." She cracked a small smile before sighing. She contemplated fighting him on this for a few more moments but ultimately decided against it. She gazed into her former mentor's eyes, "Artie… you died that night."


	5. Chapter 5

~~~~ Chapter 5 ~~~~

"What?" Artie leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "How?" he asked without opening his eyes, his voice suddenly coarse, like he hadn't used it in years. When Claudia didn't answer he opened his eyes and looked at the woman sitting a few feet from him. "Claudia, what happened?"

Claudia didn't answer right away; it was obvious she didn't want to relive the past. But she eventually did, "Artie, you never woke up." She paused but continued the story, "It was about 10 when I finally got up and when I went downstairs you weren't there. I thought it was odd because you were always the first one up and last one down. But it was Christmas so I thought maybe you decided to sleep in a little bit, especially since there were no artifacts that we had to worry about at the moment. But then about an hour later, you still hadn't come down. And Jacob told me you didn't come down really early and go back up so I decided to wake you up. You didn't answer your door and that worried me more so I opened it and there you were, sleeping like a baby. For a second I thought I would let you sleep but then I thought you would chide me later about letting you sleep that late so I went to wake you."

"I shook your shoulder and said your name. You didn't stir one bit which weirded me out cause you are a freakishly light sleeper. After like five minutes of trying to wake you I went and got Jacob. We did everything we could think of to wake you up." Claudia was fighting back tears again.

"Jacob called 911 and I called Pete and Myka. When the paramedics got there they said you were most likely in a coma." A single tear trickled down Claudia's face but she strived on. "Right when they were putting you in the ambulance your heart stopped. You were declared dead at 11:03." The end barely comprehendible over her attempt to choke back sobs.

Artie went over to Claudia and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Claudia."

A minute later, Claudia freed herself from his embrace and wiped the tears from her face. She stood up and began to slowly pace the room as Artie watched.

"Pete and Myka got back around noon. After grieving for a few hours they were determined to find out how and why it happened. They swore it was MacPherson's fault. I joined in their belief and hatred for MacPherson and even after Mrs. Frederick warned us of the dangers of going after him, we wouldn't rest until he was found. We didn't know how he did it but we didn't care. The only thing on our minds was how we would kill him once we found him."

She stopped pacing and sat in Artie's empty chair. "It took us two years. But we found him. He was hiding out in plain sight at a California antique shop." Artie scoffed. "I know right? Kinda seems anti climatic for such a psycho maniac. But I figure once he killed you, he didn't get the same rush of his cat and mouse games with the rest of us so he skipped town. But he eventually screwed up just enough for me to catch him. After two years we finally had a lead."

"Pete and Myka were to go and deal with him. Believe me, I wanted to go too, but they convinced me otherwise and so I was the backup and tech support. I was not happy about it but they were the field agents and the only ones trained to use a gun." Claudia paused again, and Artie could only guess why he hadn't seen either of them around the warehouse, "something happened… MacPherson was ready for them. There was a fight, Leena ran off and MacPherson ended up with two bullets in his chest, died instantly. Pete had a flesh wound on his arm…"

"Myka?" Worry filled Artie's voice.

"She was shot in the stomach. She had lost a lot of blood by the time the paramedics arrived. They weren't sure if she was going to make it. When they got to the hospital it was discovered that the bullet was lodged in her liver and it was almost impossible to get out. She died on the table."

Claudia stood and began to pace again.

"I'm sorry." Grief plagued Artie's voice.

"Pete was devastated. So was I. Mrs. Frederick naturally brought in a new agent to replace Myka. His name was John or Joe or something. Pete stopped going on missions for a while to take care of his kids."

"What? Pete had kids?" Artie couldn't help but smile at this piece of good news in a dismal future.

Claudia stopped pacing and glanced at the exit again, "yep. Twins. With Myka."

Artie followed her gaze at the door a sudden realization hit him in the face, "wait. The two 'you's? Warren and Trent?"

"Yep. That's why Pete and Myka wouldn't let me go after MacPherson. Babysitting duties," Claudia informed him with a weak smile.

"Huh, for a second there I thought the recruiting age for warehouse agents was lowered dramatically in the past twenty years." Claudia laughed. "Wait, Pete and Myka?" Claudia nodded. "Pete and Myka get together? And have kids?"

Claudia grinned at his surprise, "told you."

"Huh, so what's happened since then?" Artie questioned, eager to know more about this possible future.

"Um, well, about six months after Myka…" Claudia glanced to the floor before continuing, "Mrs. Frederick made me a fully fledged agent. I got to carry my own gun and everything, but I preferred the Tesla. Joshua came back and kinda took over the warehouse duties for me while I was out on missions. The new guy was not working out at all and so I eventually convinced Pete to come back. For Myka. While Jacob took care of the kids."

Claudia paused, possibly catching her breath or thoughts, trying to figure out what else needed to be said. Artie asked the next obvious question that entered his mind, "Where are Joshua and Pete now?"

Claudia began pacing again and Artie could guess what she was about to say. "About ten years later, Pete had the flu so Joshua came with me to get an artifact. It was supposed to be a simple bag and tag… no one saw it coming."

"It's always the easy ones," Artie mumbled, more to himself.

Claudia continued over Artie, "We hadn't seen or heard from Leena since MacPherson died, but when we finally arrived at the town where the artifact was, she was there too. I hesitated, stunned at the sight of her, I guess. But that was when she reacted. She held up something and pointed it at me. The next thing I knew I was three feet in the air, being held with what felt like scorching hot talons." Claudia seemed to shudder at the painful memory, "I was in so much pain. I nearly blacked out when I saw Joshua tackle Leena. I fell free but Leena had escaped Joshua's grasp and began to use the thing on Joshua. I heard him scream in pain but I couldn't move," Claudia turned to her former mentor, not bothering to stop the tears flowing freely from her eyes. "Artie, I couldn't – I couldn't help him."

Artie remained silent, anger welling up in him at Leena, for something she really hadn't done yet and guilt filling his soul at Claudia's pain.

"All I remember is Joshua scream's fade and his body falling limp on the floor. I blacked out. When I came to I was at the local hospital, someone had heard the screams and called 911. Joshua was already dead by the time help came." Claudia stopped again. Her eyes set on a certain spot on the floor somewhere between her feet and Artie, wide and red with tears. The agonizing memories flooding to the front of her brain again.

Artie walked slowly over to the girl, not sure if he should disrupt her concentration on the floor for fear the guilt that was already punching his stomach would move to a more prominent place and just rip out his heart. Overcoming his fear, he pulled the skinny woman into his arms. She neither moved to return the embrace or back away. It was like he wasn't even there.

Artie felt two wet tears make their way down his cheeks. He couldn't even imagine what she had been though. When Artie knew her, at nineteen, she had already dealt with things most people didn't need to worry about until they were Artie's age. She lost her parents when she was just a kid. Then her brother was taken from her for twelve years. Sure, she got him back but she spent her adolescence alone, an orphan, and she even spent time in a mental hospital before she got to hug her brother again, like Artie was now.

And then, not even a year after she felt like she found a family, Artie was taken from her. Then Myka and Joshua. It wasn't fair. Not to her or anyone.

A feeling of purpose filled his body, pushing out his guilt as if they couldn't occupy the same space and he gently released Claudia from his embrace. "Claudia," he clasped his hands on either side of her cheek, forcing her to look up into his eyes, "I'm going to fix this."

Claudia didn't say anything but Artie could see the hope in her eyes. She nodded once.

"I would _love_ to know just how you are planning to do that."

* * *

I know, I know...I'm a sucker for cliffhangers. But there's a quote out there somewhere about leaving them wanting more? ;P

And yes, it is a depressing possible future, but... well... it's just an idea. Get over it.. haha ;)


	6. Chapter 6

~~~~ Chapter 6 ~~~~

"I would _love_ to know just how you are planning to do that."

Artie turned his head so fast, he almost gave himself whip-lash. The voice didn't come from either of the twins who Artie still assumed were somewhere in the warehouse complaining about inventory. No, the voice belonged to a man, looking to be in his fifties, with graying brown hair and dark eyes, sitting in a wheel chair.

"Pete?" Artie tore his hands off Claudia's face and smiled, not letting his true feelings at the sight of the wheelchair show.

Pete smiled as his old boss pulled him into a hug. "Long time, man." He said when they parted.

Artie started to laugh for real, "Yea, yea, uh, Claudia was filling me in." She walked up and stood next to Pete. If Artie hadn't been holding her while she cried not two minutes ago, he would have never known she had just been crying. Years of experience, Artie thought. "A lot has changed."

Pete and Claudia shared a glance. "Yea, things tend to be a little different after twenty years."

None of them moved for a few minutes, Artie still a little shocked at how different his two friends looked and Pete and Claudia still a little shocked at how the same their former boss looked. Pete was the first to break the silence, "So," he cleared his throat, "we should probably find a way to get you back to your time, huh?"

"Uh, right." Artie turned and looked around the office. "Um, well, like I told Claudia, the last thing I remember was Christmas Eve back in '09. Nothing special. That I know of."

Pete turned to Claudia, "You sure that memory wipe thing will work?"

Claudia nodded. "Yes, Pete. I re-purposed it myself. It'll work."

"Wait, you were serious about that?" Artie interjected, staring at Claudia.

"Duh, geezer, why would I brag about something if I wasn't serious?" She remarked, in a tone that, to Artie at least, was rather familiar.

"Yea, while you were out, Claudia fixed up and re-purposed lots of handy dandy thing-a-ma-gigs." Pete informed Artie in his usual light tone.

"Right." Artie stated, slightly embarrassed. "What is it?"

"Well, it used to be a strobe light that cause amnesia but," Claudia walked over to her desk and rifled through her drawers, "I changed it around a bit, added a clock to it, and," she pulled out a flashlight, "presto, controlled memory wipe."

"Can I- can I see?" Artie asked, reaching a hand toward the device.

"Yea, sure. Just, you know, don't press any buttons." Claudia handed Artie the flashlight.

It was lighter than he thought it would be. It was silver, about a foot long, with a few extra knobs on the handle. Artie eyed the knobs, "So you just put in the date and time, and what? You forget everything since then?"

"Pretty much," Pete answered Artie.

When Artie continued to maneuver the light around in his hands, Claudia asked, "What are you thinking, Artie?"

Artie hesitated and kept his gaze on the light. "Well, um, if and hopefully when, we find out a way to get me back to where I belong…" He trailed off in thought.

"Yea?" Pete didn't like when Artie didn't finish his sentences twenty years ago, and he felt the same now.

"What date are you going to put into the light?" Artie looked up at the two agents confused faces. "I mean, are you going to wipe my memory before I go back?"

"That was the plan," Pete put simply, not seeing where Artie was going.

"Well, assuming it was me who touched the artifact that brought me here, the chances are good that I will need to be the one that activates the artifact again to take me back. So…"

Claudia caught on and finished his sentence, "One of us is going to have to explain to you how to use the artifact after your memory is wiped. And that means you are going to see at least one of us, and the moment you see us…"

Pete sighed. "It's a freaking cycle. So what are we going to do?"

Artie handed the flashlight back to Claudia who in turn laid it on her desk. "Well, I could take the light with me and just wipe myself when I got back to the past."

The three of them considered this for a few moments. Then Pete asked, "But won't having a future object in the past throw everything off anyway?"

Artie was getting a headache and proceeded to rub his eyes in frustration.

"Well it won't matter how we wipe his memory if we can't get him back." Claudia sat in her comfy chair and looked at Artie, "You must have touched something in the warehouse that day?"

"No, I never left the office that day. I mean, we knew what artifact we were looking for so I was just searching for MacPherson on the computers."

Both Pete and Claudia sighed in frustration. "Okay," Claudia finally said, "just go through everything that happened that day. Everything you did. Everything you touched."

"Okay. I got up at 7 like I usually do and headed to the warehouse a little bit after that. I was in the office doing a search on anything out of the ordinary when I got a hit off of the Santa's hat. I found where it was and got everything ready to go so you," he looked at Pete, "and Myka could go get it. Then I headed back to the B&B."

"Okay. I remember that," Pete said.

"Yea, I remember you whining about it being Christmas Eve," Claudia teased.

"And I had a perfectly good reason, too. Right Artie?" Pete defended.

Artie couldn't help but smile at the two older versions of his friends. Even after everything, they still could still make light of any situation.

Artie decided to take the middle road and ignore that question. "Anyway, after getting you guys settled, Claudia and I went back to the warehouse for research. That was when I got your," he looked at Pete, "secret Santa present but –"

"Wait." Pete interrupted, "what present?"

"What? Uh, the butterfly thing. It was on my desk when Claudia and I got to the warehouse." Artie answered, a little confused.

"Artie," Pete started, "that wasn't my present."

"What do you mean? Yes it was."

"Artie," Claudia said hesitantly, "you said you didn't get the present until after you left in the morning and then went back with me. Pete was with us the whole time. There's no way he could have gotten to the warehouse to leave that for you."

"Yea, and besides, I wouldn't get you a girly butterfly thing. Please, I got you…" Pete cleared his throat, "well, I'm not going to ruin the surprise." He gave a sly grin before continuing, "Anyway, that thing has got to be the artifact. Now we just need to figure out how you got it."

"That's easy, MacPherson." Artie said, as if it was obvious.

Claudia's brow furrowed, "Um, ok, but why would he give you something to see the future with?"

"Cause he's a creepy maniac, that's why," Pete stated. There was an undertone of pain.

"Right." Claudia nodded, "well we need to find it and figure out how to get you back to your time."

"No need. Hand me a pair of neutralizer gloves, please," Artie reached his hand towards Claudia.

Confused, Claudia quickly reached in her desk drawer and pulled out the familiar purple gloves and handed them to her mentor.

Artie took one and without putting it on, reached into his pocket. He grasped the cold metal with the plastic glove and extracted it from his jacket pocket.

The blue piece of metal shined in the fluorescent light as Claudia and Pete bent over to inspect it.

"Freaky," Pete stated before straightening up. "Alright, well the hard part is done. Now we just have to figure out how it works."

Claudia also straightened up and let out a chuckle, "yea, that was the hard part?… Artie, what were you doing while you were holding this?"

"Lying in my bed, about to fall asleep." Artie's eyes went wide, "I was thinking about the future! Whether Claudia would take my place, whether, um, you," he pointed to Pete," and Myka would get together, what would happen to me."

Pete and Claudia shared a glance. "I bet that's how it works," Pete said.

Claudia was still confused though, "again, why the hell would MacPherson give you this?"

"Maybe he was hoping I would get stuck in the future and therefore lost forever so I wouldn't screw up his plans anymore," Artie guessed.

"Well, so far it's working, we're still not sure how to get you back," Claudia explained grimly.

After a moment, Pete perked up, "why don't we just take him back to where he came to our time and have him think about the past, er, present? I mean, if that's all it took for him to come here?"

Claudia looked at Artie, hope in her eyes, and shrugged, "It might work."

Artie nodded, "it's the best we've got."

Pete smiled, "alright then! Let's go!"

"What about the memory wipe problem?" Claudia asked a bit nervously.

"We'll figure that out on the way there," Pete said as he began to wheel his way out of the office.

Artie and Claudia looked at each other, both hoping the crazy idea was going to work. After a brief moment, they both nodded. Claudia grabbed the re-purposed flashlight and followed Artie out of the office.

Before Artie and Claudia reached the stairs, a loud alarm went off and red lights began flashing all around the warehouse.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I meant to upload this earlier but I've been uber sick and haven't been on the computer much. I didn't realize this chapter was so short until like 5 minutes ago so sorry about that. But it's almost done *sniff* and it's been fun. Thanks for the reviews so far, they make my day. Anyway, enough with that, hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

~~~ Chapter 7 ~~~

"What's happening?" Artie asked, somewhat frantically. The last time he saw the warehouse alarms go off, MacPherson was escaping.

"Hang on," Claudia said, not taking her eyes off of the computer monitor in front of her.

As soon as the alarms went off, Artie and Claudia ran back to the office to see what was wrong.

"Crap," Claudia said under her breath. She pressed a button on the desk and began to speak through a microphone, "Warren! Trent!"

Half a second later, the twin's voices could be heard over the speaker, "Yea, Ms. D. What's going on?"

"Code Black. Meet us where you found Artie." Claudia released the button and turned to a stunned Artie. "We need to get you back to your time, now!"

She grabbed Artie by the arm and began to drag him toward the door and down the stairs.

Pete was waiting for them to come down, "What's going on?"

"Code black," Claudia repeated. Pete's face grew stern and he nodded. "We need to get Artie back to the present."

"What is a code black!?" Artie yelled as he followed the two into the maze of warehouse shelves.

"We are under attack." Pete answered.

"What?! By whom?"

"Leena." Claudia said with venom in her voice. "She and her thugs have been trying to get in and destroy the warehouse for years."

"Yea, but she has never gotten this far before," Pete said, slightly nervous.

"Something's changed," Claudia said simply. Artie couldn't help but feel like he was the reason Leena was here.

The rest of the run to where Artie had appeared only a few hours before, was silent, not counting the pants of two out of shape agents.

Once they finally reached their destination, Artie noticed they were in front of the same big room where all of the personal effects and living quarters of every agent who dies mysteriously is stored and preserved. Which is why, Artie realized, when he woke up, he was in his room and when he left his room, he was in the warehouse.

"Where are Warren and Trent?" Pete asked worriedly, pulling Artie from his thoughts.

"Pete," Claudia said, somewhat forcibly, "don't worry, they are coming."

"No, they should have been here by now." Pete was frantically looking around the shelves for his sons. "I'm going to go looking for them." He turned his chair and began to leave.

"Pete!" Artie started to go after him but was stopped by Claudia. "What are you doing Claudia?"

"We can't worry about him now," Claudia said without emotion, "we need to get you back."

When Artie didn't move one way or the other, Claudia stared into his eyes, "look, if we get you back, you can fix everything. None of this will happen. I promise."

Artie opened his mouth to argue but quickly closed it. He nodded, "okay. Let's go."

Claudia gave a small smile and jogged to the combination lock. She put in the numbers and stood back to wait for Artie's room to come.

A few minutes passed and Artie and Claudia could start to hear a commotion. Warren came running around a corner and toward the two agents just as Artie's room appeared.

"Claudia!" Warren yelled. He was being chased by a man dressed in a suit, one of Leena's cohorts.

Claudia saw Warren but turned her back on him and walked toward the bedroom instead.

Artie grabbed Claudia's arm before she could enter the room. "What are you doing?"

Claudia turned toward her former mentor and saw the confusion in his eyes. "Dammit Artie. You are more important right now."

Artie was taken aback, "Claudia, I couldn't live with myself if we just left him there."

"You aren't going to remember anyway!" Claudia shrugged off Artie's grasp on her arm.

"Claudia!" Artie yelled and stared at Claudia. She kept his gaze for a few moments and then rolled her eyes.

She shoved the memory wipe into Artie's arms, "you are going to have to do it yourself then." Then she pushed Artie into the room and took off to help Warren.

Artie stumbled a little bit when Claudia pushed him but he soon regained his balance and watched as Claudia helped Warren. By the time Claudia reached Warren, both he and his attacker had their weapons knocked out of their hands and were fist fighting.

Warren was losing.

He was on the ground about to be kicked when Claudia picked up Warren's lost Tesla. She aimed and fired. The man was hit directly in the chest and fell unconscious to the ground.

Claudia kneeled beside Warren. He was pretty banged up but he'd survive. She then glanced back at Artie and saw him still standing at the doorway. "Artie!" she yelled. Artie smiled despite himself thinking she was just mad that he hadn't left yet. What he didn't see was another of Leena's 'friends' a few feet off to the right of him. He had snuck up on Artie while he was distracted.

Claudia got up and ran toward him, forgetting the Tesla. The man jumped at Artie causing him to drop the flashlight. Artie grabbed the man's arms, keeping him from throwing any punches. They gripped each other and began moving around the room, knocking into tables and trying to get the upper hand. This fight reminded Artie too much of his recent scuffle with MacPherson in the warehouse.

After a minute of thrashing around, the man was torn off of Artie by Claudia. Artie fell to the ground with a thud but looked up at his former protégé. She had one of the man's arms in a vice hold behind his back.

"Artie! Use the butterfly! Think of the past!" Claudia ordered right before the man escaped her hold. Claudia pushed the man out of the room as Artie reached into his pocket.

He grasped the now familiar cold metal and closed his eyes. He thought of Claudia at 19. Pete and Myka were in Akron, Ohio looking for the Santa's hat. It was Christmas 2009. He began to feel a strange pull but kept his eyes shut, hoping this nightmarish future would soon be over.

Claudia saw Artie close his eyes and glanced at the bad guy, who was quickly getting up with the help of another. She turned back to Artie.

"Crap!" Claudia noticed the flashlight on the floor and reached it just as the men grabbed for her. She swung the light in an arch behind her and it connected with one guy's skull. She heard him hit the floor but was too focused on a fading Artie to care where the other was.

With every ounce of strength she had left, she dove at Artie just as everything went dark.


	8. Chapter 8

Well this is it. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And thanks for all the reviews. They make my day. :)

* * *

~~~ Chapter 8 ~~~

Artie blinked a few times. He was standing in front of the door to his room at the Bed and Breakfast. He reached in his pocket, the butterfly was still there. And he still remembered everything. Thoroughly confused, Artie opened his door and was met with a blinding flash of light.

"See you in the future, geezer."

Artie heard the familiar voice before he could see where it came from. When his eyesight began to clear, he could just make out the body of a woman in his moonlit room. She looked familiar but with long, dark hair. She lifted up a hand and gave a small wave. She looked almost like she was fading away, if that was even possible.

"Claudia?" Artie asked.

"Yeah?" Artie had never been so perplexed in his life. That voice was one in the same but it came from behind him. He turned and saw the red haired teenager stop at the threshold of her own room.

"Artie? You okay?" Claudia asked, seeing her mentor's confusion.

"Uh," Artie looked back in his room and the figure was gone. He blinked again and turned toward the teenager who took a few steps toward him. "Yea, uh, I'm fine. Did you say something?"

Claudia smirked and shook her head slightly, "Old age creeping up on you, huh? I said 'see ya in the morning.'"

"Oh, ok. You sure?"

Claudia raised an eyebrow, "uh, yea Artie. That's what I said… Ok, I might have added 'geezer' at the end." She added with a smile.

Artie returned her smile, "ok, well, goodnight Claudia." He turned back to his room and closed the door.

He set his bag on the end table and went to his bathroom to get ready to sleep. When he came out he noticed his bag had toppled off table and fell open sometime during his preparation. He went to set it right and noticed the small red present had fallen out. He picked it up and sat on the end of his bed when he heard a crunch of paper under him.

He scooted over and picked up the paper. It was folded in half with his name written on the outside. He opened it and read the scribble inside:

_Make sure you have neutralizer gloves on when you open your present._

_~ Ms. D_

Artie studied the handwriting. It looked almost like Claudia's and she is the only 'Ms. D' he knows. He couldn't quite put a finger on it but the handwriting was somehow different. He made a mental note to ask Claudia about it in the morning.

He opened his bag and pulled out a pair of purple gloves that he carries with him everywhere, for instances such as these. He put them on and carefully opened his present. Inside the wrapping was a small wooden box with hand-carved designs on it. Artie inspected it and determined it was quite old. Possibly back to the early Chinese dynasties. Inside the box was a small blue, metal, butterfly. Artie played with the butterfly for a few minutes, thinking about what it could be, what kind of power it wields.

He put the butterfly back in its box and put both into his bag. He would take both and neutralize them, as well as figure out who this Ms. D is… in the morning. Artie laid down on his bed and fell into a dreamless sleep almost instantly.

***

A ray of sunlight broke through the blinds in Artie's room, waking him. He glanced at the clock, 8am, before beginning his morning routine. Artie knew Pete and Myka were probably only a few minutes away from the B&B by now since they caught the earliest flight back. He quickly dressed and, grabbing his bag, headed downstairs.

"Morning sleepyhead!" Claudia greeted from her seat at kitchen counter. She was dressed in jeans and a red and white plaid shirt, "Merry Christmas." She said around a cup of eggnog.

Artie smiled to his young protégé, "Merry Christmas, Claudia."

He sat down next to her just as Jacob entered the kitchen, "What would you like for breakfast, Mr. Neilson?"

Claudia snickered and Artie glared at her before answering the innkeeper, "Jacob, call me Artie. Mr. Neilson is —"

"an old-folgy's name?" Claudia interrupted.

"No…well yes but…" Artie sighed, glaring at Claudia again. "Anyway, for breakfast," he paused, "you know what? Surprise me."

Jacob gave a self-conscious smile, "Yes, sir," and began making strawberry pancakes.

"Pete and Myka should be here any minute," Claudia said looking up at the wall clock.

"Yes, and I have a few things that I need to talk to you all about," Artie said.

Claudia's brow furrowed but before she could ask what, Pete and Myka entered the room.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!" Pete bellowed carrying his and Myka's suitcases. Myka followed close behind shaking her head slightly and carrying the neutralizer canister.

"Hi guys. Merry Christmas," Myka greeted, in a calmer voice than her partner.

"Hi –" Artie suddenly cut off and his eyes went wide. "That's – that's not the artifact is it?" He pointed at Pete's head.

"Um, actually…" Pete hesitated, "No." Artie let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Artie, seriously? Myka has the bad one. I bought this hat at the airport. It is Christmas after all. And what's Christmas without a Santa and presents?" He reached into his suitcase and pulled out a small box wrapped in bright red and white paper.

He handed it to Artie, who took it but didn't open it right away. "It's not going to blow up or anything is it?"

Pete smiled and shook his head, eager to see his boss's reaction. Claudia maneuvered herself so she could see. Artie opened the present, "Really? You couldn't think of anything else to get me?"

Artie was holding a pair of fuzzy dice, the kind you hang on your rear-view mirror in your car.

Claudia laughed, "Groovy, dude."

"What? Come on, those are cool." Pete defended.

"And it was a last minute thing," Myka pretended to help out Pete.

"Exactly. Wait, no, it was not a last minute thing." Pete's defense was gone. "I mean –"

"Pete," Artie interrupted, "its fine."

The agents sat themselves across from Claudia and began munching on the strawberry pancakes Jacob just laid out.

"Okay, since you're all here," Artie began, putting down the dice and reached into his bag. "Did any of you leave this," he pulled out the box, "for me yesterday?"

Each of them looked at the box and shrugged, shaking their heads.

"What is it?" Myka asked as she reached for it.

Artie pulled it back, away from her reach. "An artifact."

"What? Then why aren't you wearing gloves?" Pete asked, slightly concerned.

"Because the artifact is _inside_ the box," Artie explained, as if it was obvious.

"Okay, so?" Myka prodded.

"Well, I think MacPherson left it for me."

Pete choked on his pancakes, Claudia started hitting his back, and Myka asked the question that was on all their minds, "what does it do?"

Artie glanced at the box, "I'm not sure."

"Well then how do you know it's an artifact?" Claudia asked, now that Pete was able to breathe again.

"Because last night, I found a note on my bed saying so," Artie pulled out the letter and handed it to Myka.

" 'Make sure you have neutralizer gloves on when you open your present.'" Myka read out loud while Pete and Claudia looked over her shoulder.

"Who's Ms. D?" Pete asked and immediately looked at Claudia. Claudia looked around the rest of the room and saw all eyes on her.

She raised her hands, as if to surrender, "Don't look at me. I didn't write that. Besides, I would never call myself Ms. D. Too old timer for my taste."

"Well, if you didn't write it, who did?" Myka asked no one in particular.

"Not sure." Artie took back the letter and put both things back in his bag. "I'm going to do some research, see if I can't figure it out." He picked up his bag and the neutralizer canister that held the Grinch's hat, and moved to leave.

"But Artie, it's Christmas," Pete said.

"Yea, take a day off," Myka offered.

"Yea, I mean, we still have to swap the rest of the presents." Claudia smiled.

Artie sighed. "Tell you what, I'm going to secure these two artifacts and I'll be right back to… celebrate."

A collective gasp was heard throughout the room. "Never thought I'd see the day; Artie taking a day off," Claudia teased while Pete and Myka laughed.

"Hey, watch it. Keep teasing me and I'll stay at the warehouse all day," Artie threatened, only half heartedly though. He really wanted to figure out what the butterfly artifact was but… it was Christmas.

"Alright, A-man." Pete stood up and patted him on the shoulder, "wake me up when you get back." He grinned and picked up his suitcase before heading upstairs.

Myka also stood, picking up her luggage, "see you when you get back, Artie" and followed her partner upstairs.

"Don't stay too long Artie, wouldn't want you to miss out." Claudia started to follow the two agent's footsteps when she stopped and turned to Artie, "I can't believe you thought I wrote that note," Claudia scolded, hitting him on his arm. She then left him to rub the little pain away.

On her journey up the stairs, Artie could have sworn he heard her mumble to herself, "Ms. D? Pleeaasseee…."

Artie let out a little chuckle and looked at the now abandoned stairs. Shaking his head he turned and left the Bed and Breakfast with every intention of hurrying back. He didn't want to miss a thing.

The End


End file.
